Retractable keeper for door fasteners



P 1948- s. B. HASELTINE RETRACTABLE KEEPER FOR DOOR FASTENERS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June -l8, 1947 InVe 8110 02; Jlase Zflne Sept. 21, 1948,

Filed June 18, 1947 s. B. HASELTINE RETRACTABLE KEEPER FOR DOOR FASTENERS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Invert/0T: v W 17. Ida-3e Mine.

Sept. 21, 1948. s. B. l-lAsL'rml-i I 2,449,774

RETRACTABLE KEEPER FOR DOOR FASTENERS Filed Junel8, 1947. '3 She ets-Sheet 3 siggy flaseZ/fine.

Patented Sept. 21, 1948 RETRAGTABLE'KEEPEEFOR DOGR FASTENERS Stacy B.. Haseltine, La Grange, Ill assignonto... W. 'H...Miner,.Inc., Chicago, Ill.,.a.corpora,t1on.

of Delaware 2' Appli'cationalflnexlS, 1947,.Serial No. 755,417

5 Claims. (01. 292-241) This invention relates to improvements in keep.- ers for-fasteners of therotarybar-typeioryhinged doors, and more particularly keepers which. are retractable to protect thesame.againstdamage.

One object of theinvention is. tobprovide. a door fastener for. hinged doors .of automobile trucks, comprising a: rotaryroperatingbar mounted on the truek-doorhaving keeper. engaging crank members engageabler with keepersmounted on the truck body above; and below the door opening, .whereinthe lower. keeper. is in the form of a. swinging member adapted. to dropwto: out of the way positionewhen, the door is opened to protect the keeper against d-amagewhen thetruck is backed against a loadingplatform or building, and wherein means is provided for automatically raising the keeper to. horizontal operative position when the door is-swungpartlyshut.

Amore specific object of theinvention is to provide aidoor fastener mechanism,.as set forth. in. the preceding paragraph; wherein the lower:

keeper is pivotally supported on the truckbody to, swing to retracted pendant, out :01 the way position, and the door whichcar-ries thecfastener mechanism is provided. with a. projecting arm whichengages the keeper when the door is swung toward partly closed.position-toswingthe keeper to. operative position torbe .engagedby the corresponding crankmember of theerotar-y operating bar to actuate the door. H

Other objects of the invention willmore; clearly appear. from. the description and :claims hereinafter following.

In the accompanying. drawings forming :a part of this specification, Figure 1 is arear. elevational viewof a portion of.the. body of anautomobile truck, provided with a dooropening and apair of hinged doors, illustrating myeimprovements in connection; therewith... Figured is-a-vertical sectional view, on an enlargedv scale, correspond ing. substantially to the, line .2-.2 0.15 Figure 1. Figure 3 is a horizontal. section-alaview; corresponding, substantially to the line 3-3m0,f Figure. 2., showing. thecdoor partly openancl the lower. keeperiheld. in. horizontalv position. by. the

projecting cam. arm of, the. do.or.. Figure. 4 is a.

view similar to, EigureZ, illustrating the position of. theparts. whenthe doorhasbeen swung, open beyond. the positionshowndn Figure Figure 5. is atopaplan view of, thelower keeper. shown in lEigures. land 2. Figure 6.. is: a. horizontal .-section-al view of. the .backplate oiathe bottom. bearing bracket of. my, improved.- mechanism. andthe cam arm of. said-plate. .saidiviewrbeing. onthe same.p1ane as Eigure .3.i Eigure 7. is an end ele vational viewof Figure o lookingafrom lefttox right. Figure 8. is a-view simllarto Figure 2, illustrating another embodiment-of the;invention; Figure; 9 is atopzplanview. oftheback -plateot,

.. the bearing bracketrshowmin Figured, and the" cam armcarriedthereon. Figureldis an elevartional View of the supporting. bearing-..-plate for the swinging keeper shown: in; Figure- 8. Figure 11.

is a plan view of the keeper-shown in:Eigure- 8.

Insaid drawings, 10: indicatestherear wall of.

anautomobile truckhaving a. door opening H therein, closed by'a' pair of -hinged doors.- l2. and I3. Each door is provided with the. usualhinges Mcalong the vertical. :outer side edgesi :thereof,v

by which the door is swingingly supported, As is common practice; the. door" lLwwhich isrthat first closed, and the door 13 havetheir meeting edges beveled and so inclined. that the door 13. will maintain thedoor l2 in closed position and wedge the same: shut whentheadoor fastener is actuated toiforcer the door [3: closed". The door is carries the usual rotary operatingbar l5, which is disposedvertieally and hasakeeper engaging: crank members l6-l 6. at the top and bottom ends thereof, providedzwith crank pins; 11-41 adapted to cooperate with slotted keepers; ofwell known: design for forcing the. door: t3 opener camming the eamashut, the upper cranle member having. camming engagement with the-topper keeper, which is indicated byl l'l, thelatter being.

fixedto-the truck bodyiabove the; door l3. -The bar: is supported for rotation on the-do0r l3 by upper, lower, and intermediatebearing brackets, the upper and intermediate bearing brackets,-

which are indicated: by l3 and 19, being .of any well-known design. .The bar l5: isv arranged to be rotated by an ractuatingnlever. 2:D,-'Whl6h is pivotally connected: to the barto be dropped. to pendant positionwhen the door has been forced open, and'adaptedmo vbelocked in position. by a latch Not any welleknown-character. when. the.

door has-been forcedto tightly closed position by the-fastener mechanism.

Incarrying out myinvention. as illustrated in the? embodiment shown in Figures 1 to '7 =inclu sive; I. provide broadly a swinging, lower. keeper A. with which.the; lowerf-crankz member of: the operating bar cooperates, aI-Z hearing or:- guide bracket B for the lower.- endroftheoperatingbar, and :aacam arm .0 on the: bracket B; whichis errgageable with the keeper to swing. the same to operative. horizontal position,.andlock-itin that position.

sill is indicated by 22, the end sill being of channel-shaped cross section and provided with an opening 23 within which the keeper is mounted. As shown most clearly in Figures 3 and 4, the opening 23 extends through the vertical web of the end sill and also through the forward portion of the lower flange of the sill, thus providing sufiicient clearance to permit the keeper to drop to pendant vertical position. A bolt 24, extending through an enlarged portion 26 of the keeper and through the flanges 25-25 of a U-shaped bracket or plate 2?, located at the opening 23 of" the sill and welded to the inner side of the vertical web and to the top and bottom flanges of the end sill 22 at the opening 23, supports the keeper for swinging movement.

The keeper A has a short arm and a long arm extending in opposite directions from the pivotal axis of the same, the short arm being in the form of atail portion 28 extending rearwardly from the pivot of the keeper, as viewed in Figure 2. The long arm, which is indicated by 29, projects forwardlybeneath the door and is provided with a transverse, upwardly opening, inclined cam slot 36 at its outer end within which the crank pin ll of the lower crank member i6 is engageable to cam the door I 3 open or closed in the usual manner. Asshown in Figures 2 and 4, the main body portion or' web of the plate 27! is cut out or recessed, as indicated at 3!, to provide clearance for the tail or short arm 22 of the keeper when the latter is swung to horizontal position.

The bearing or guide bracket B for the lower end of the operating bar i is of two-part construction, comprising front and back plates 32 and 33 between which the shank 3d of the lower crank member of the bar I5 is journaled, the plates 32 and 33 being fixed to the lower end of the door l3 by securing bolts 35 extending through the plates and the body of the door. The back plate 33 of the guide bracket B has the cam arm C formed integral therewith, the arm C being in the form of a right angular bent portion, extending in horizontal direction beneath the door [3 and projecting a considerable distance rearwardly of the'same.

The main body portion of the arm C is downwardly offset with respect to the lower edge of the door l3, as clearly shown in Figure 4, and presents a flat underneath surface. The arm C is preferably reenforced on its upper side by lengthwise extending ribs 3636 along opposite side edges thereof. The inner end portion of the arm- C, that is, where it merges with the back plate 33 of the bracket B, is laterally widened to provide ears 3l3'l by which it is secured to the underneath edge of the door, being fixed by screws 38-48 extending throughsaid ears and into the door. This arm C is so located that it is in substantial alignment with the tail 28 of the keeper A when the door is moved toward closed position and is adapted to engage the tail 2% to swing the keeper upwardly from the pendant position shown in Figure 4 to the horizontal position shown in Figure 2', when the door is being manually swung to partly closed position, preliminary to camming the door closed by rotation of the bar I5. As shown in Figure 2, the top surface 39 of the tail or short arm 23 of the keeper is preferably offset with respect to the main body portion of the keeper to assure true flat faced contact between the arm C and the tail portion 28 to lock the keeper in horizontal position during the time that camming action takes place between the lower crank member and the lower keeper.

The operation of the improved door fastener shown in Figures 1 to 7 inclusive is as follows: Assuming that the doors i2 and i3 are in the closed position shown in Figures 1 and 2 and that the doors are to be opened, the attendant, after unlatching the lever 28, swings the same toward the right from the position shown in Figure 1, thereby rotating the bar and the keeper engaging crank members IE3 thereof to cam the door outwardly in the usual manner. When the door it has thus been forced partly open, the crank pins ll of the crank members it are disposed at the entrance opening ends of the cam slots of the keepers in position to clear the outer walls of said slots so that both doors may be readily swung open by the attendant without interference, the crank pin of the lower crank member being in the position shown in Figure 3. As the door I 3 is swung outwardly by the attendant from the position shown in Figure 3 toward fully open position, the arm C is withdrawn from engagement with the tail or short arm 23 of the keeper A, permitting the latter to swing to the pendant position shown in Figure 4.

In forcing the door l3 closed, the reverse procedure is followed. The doors i2 and K1 are first swung to partly closed positionby the attendant. As the door 13 is being swung toward the partly closed position shown in Figure 3, the

arm 0 engages the tail or short arm of the keeper A, swinging the keeper upwardly from the pendant position shown in Figure 4- to horizontal position, and locking the same in the latter position, as shown in Figure 3. The door I3 is then forced tightly closed by rotation of the bar It, the top and bottom crank members cooperating with the top and bottom keepers i l! and A to cam the door shut in the usual manner. During this action, the arm 0 effectively blocks the keeper A against swinging movement'as shown in Figure 2. The

keeper A thus functions in the same manner as the usual fixed lower keeper of the rotary door fastener during the operation of forcing the door tightly closed and camming the same partly open. As will be evident, when th keeper A is in its retracted pendant position, as shown in Figure 4, it is disposed inwardly clear of the inner end of the truck and thus protected against damage when the truck is backed against any object, such as a loading platform.

Referring next to the embodiment of the invention shown in Figures 8 to 11, inclusive, the

construction is the same as that of the embodiment illustrated in Figures 1 to 7, inclusive, with the exception that the retractable keeper is supported on the outer side of the end sill of the truck and swingable against said end sill when dropped to pend-ant position.

In carrying out the invention as illustrated in Figures 8 to 11, inclusive, I provide a swinging lower keeper D, a bearing bracket E for the lower end of the operating bar, and a cam arm F on the bracket E, cooperating with the keeper D.

The keeper D is pivotally supported between its ends on the end sill 40 of the truck, having trunnions 41-4! journaled in bearing seats 42-42 provided in a supportin plate 43 riveted to the of. As shown in Figure 8, when the keeper D is in horizontal raised position, the long arm 45 extends outwardly or forwardly beneath the operating bar l5 and the short arm 44 extends inward 1y of the sill and is accommodated in the 'open-- ing 46 of the plate 43 and a registering opening in the vertical web of the sill 40. The long arm is provided with a cam slot 41 at its outer end within which the crank pin ll of the lower crank member 16 of the operatin bar has camming engagement. The short arm 44 is in the form of an enlarged head portion with which the arm F is engageable to swing the keeper to horizontal position and lock the same in that position.

The bearing bracket E is similar to the bracket B hereinbefore described, comprising front and back plates, the back plate carrying the rearwardly extending arm F which operates to swing the keeper D from pendant to horizontal position when the door I3 is swung toward closed position by the attendant.

I claim:

1. In a door fastener for a hinged door of a container, the combination with a rotary operating bar mounted on the door; of a pivoted keeper mounted on the container; a cam arm on said door engageable with the keeper to swing the same to operative position; and crank means on said bar engageable with the keeper.

2. In a door fastener for a hinged door of a container, the combination with a rotary operating bar mounted on the door; of a keeper swingingly supported on the container for movement from pendant to horizontal position; an inward ly projecting cam arm on the door engageable with the keeper to swing the same to horizontal position as the door is swun toward closed position; and crank means on said bar engageable with said keeper for forcing the door tightly closed.

3. In a door fastener for a hinged door of a container, the combination with a rotary operating bar mounted on the door; of a keeper pivoted between its ends on said container for swinging movement from pendant to horizontal position, said keeper having a short arm and a long arm extending oppositely from the pivotal axis thereof; a cam projection on said door engageable with the short arm of the keeper to swing said keeper from pendant to horizontal positionwhen the door is being swung partly closed; and cam means on said bar engageable with the long arm of said keeper for forcing the door partly open or tightly closed.

4. In a door fastener for a hinged door of a container, the combination with a vertically disposed, rotary operating bar mounted on the door, said bar having a keeper engaging crank member at the lower end thereof; of a bearing bracket on the door supporting said barfor rotation; a swinging keeper pivotally supported between its ends on said container for swinging movement from pendant to horizontal position, said keeper having a long arm and a short arm, said long arm having a cam slot at its outer end within which the keeper engaging crank member is engageable to force the door open or closed; and an arm on said bracket extending beneath the door and projecting rearwardly therefrom, said arm being engageable with the short arm of the keeper when the door is being moved to closed position to swing said keeper from pendant to horizontal position.

5. In a door fastener for a hinged door of a container, the combination with an operating bar on said door havin keeper engaging means thereon; of a keeper mounted on the container for movement from retracted, inoperative position to extended operative position; and an arm on said door engageabie with said keeper for moving the same from retracted to extended operative position by closing movement of the door.

STACY B. HASELTINE. 

